Does Libya need the WTO? A Critical Analysis of the Potential Economic Impacts of Financial Liberalization in the Event of Libya’s Accession to the World Trade Organization

This paper sets out to undertake a critical examination of Libya’s proposed membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The primary purpose of the main research on which the paper is based is to explore the potential economic impacts on the Libyan economy of economic liberalization in general, and liberalization of the financial services sector in particular, in the event of Libya’s accession to full membership of the WTO. The paper, its key themes and its initial findings, are partly informed by ongoing doctoral research by the second author, for which the first author is one of the supervisors.